Surskit Line/RSE
In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Surskit shows up: *Route 102 -- 1% in grass, 1% when Surfing, level 3 either way. *Route 111 -- 1% when surfing, level 20-30. *Route 114 -- 1% in grass, level 15; 1% when surfing, level 20-30. *Route 117 -- 1% in grass, level 13; 1% when surfing, level 20-30. *Route 120 -- 1% in grass, level 25; 1% when surfing, level 20-30. Surskit can only be obtained in Pokémon Emerald through a Pokémon Swarm after mixing records with a Ruby and Sapphire cartridge with an active Swarm. This may or may not be doable before entering the Hall of Fame in Emerald, so match-ups for Emerald are currently not included. Surskit is a very rare Pokémon to find at any point in a Nuzlocke, especially early in the run, but this page exists in case you happen to get one (particularly on route 102, when you likely have at most 3 other Pokémon). It has very poor stats aside from speed -- and its speed goes down when it evolves into Masquerain, while it also loses Swift Swim in favor of Intimidate. Masquerain, however, is better in every other stat and has considerable type coverage with its move-set. If you do decide to use a Surskit, be sure to raise it unevolved to level 25 where it learns Bubblebeam -- Masquerain does not learn this move, neither Pokémon can get a better water-type attack, and Masquerain does not learn any moves Surskit doesn't until level 26 so if it evolves at level 25, you miss nothing. Important Matchups Only Ruby and Sapphire match-ups are evaluated here. * Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): Surskit outspeeds Geodude and Nosepass, but that's the only good news. Nosepass can one-shot Surskit with a crit even if Surskit has 31/31 HP/Def IVs and a +Def nature -- and two-shot without crits. Geodude has anywhere from 0 to 100% chance of one-shotting Surskit WITHOUT a crit depending on HP and Defense, and a guaranteed two-shot no matter what, even with an oran berry! You do have a chance to one-shot Geodude with Bubble if your Special Attack is high enough, but EV training would be required to get it up to the 25 Sp. Atk required to be a guaranteed one-shot, and it is not worth the risk of missing and getting one-shotted yourself. tl;dr: do not use. * Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): * Rival (Route 110): * Wally (Mauville City): * Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): * Tabitha/Matt (Mt. Chimney): * Maxie/Archie (Mt. Chimney): * Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge Town, Fire-type): * Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type): * Courtney/Shelly (Weather Institute): * Rival (Route 119): * Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): * Rival (Lilycove City): * Tabitha/Matt (Lilycove Hideout): * Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): * Courtney/Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): * Maxie/Archie (Seafloor Cavern): * Groudon (Cave of Origin, Ruby only): * Kyogre (Cave of Origin, Sapphire only): * Gym #8 - Wallace (Sootopolis City, Water-type): * Wally (Victory Road): * Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): * Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): * Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): * Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): * Champion Steven (Ever Grande City, Steel-type): * Post-Game: Moves Surskit's level-up moves: It starts with Bubble and if caught Route 102 this is all it will have. With 20 base power -- fine, 30 with STAB, but only until it evolves -- and a 10% chance to lower speed (whoop-de-doo), this is a bad move, but it's all the special attacking you get until level 25 without TMs (and that's if you don't evolve it before level 25!). And special moves are Surskit "strong suit". At level 7, it gets Quick Attack, the well-known normal-type priority move, which has 40 base power. This should only be used against speedier opponents or against opponents who resist water-type attacks or have low def/high sp. def, in which case I really hope you have some other 'mon available because with Surskit's 30 base attack, this is just not good. Next comes Sweet Scent at level 13, lowers evasion two levels, maybe useful against sand-attacks but those tend to come from birds who can probably OHKO surskit, and at level 19 comes Water Sport, which for once comes on a Pokémon that isn't already resistant to fire thanks to the bug/water dual-type. At level 25 Surskit gets Bubblebeam -- a move Masquerain does NOT get -- and it is worth postponing evolution to that point if Surskit is somehow still in your party; it is easily the best move Surskit gets by level-up, and better than anything Masquerain gets by level-up, special or not, until level 47. If for some reason you do not immediately evolve to Masquerain upon getting Bubblebeam, you can get Agility at level 31, and both Mist, and Haze at level 37. Bleah. Masquerain-only level-up moves: Masquerain has the same moveset, sans Bubblebeam, as Surskit until level 26, when it learns Gust, a 40-base-power flying-type move. It does have STAB for Gust so this is at least equal in power to Bubblebeam, in theory, but Masquerain also is special-oriented with 80 special attack and 60 attack, so this is not particularly great barring type matchups and what not. It's the best physical move you have at this point, however. At Level 33 it gets Scary Face, ugh. Level 40 brings Stun Spore which can at least be useful for catching things even if it doesn't otherwise mesh with your battle style. Level 47 brings what should be Masquerain's best move, Silver Wind, a 60-power bug-type move (90 with stab) with a 10% chance of raising all stats one stage, making it a bug-type Ancientpower. This at least could be useful against psychic types, but do you really want to level to 47 to get it? Finally, at level 53 Masquerain gets the rather insulting for this level Whirlwind. TM moves: Hidden Power is accessible fairly early (Slateport City after acquiring the Secret Power TM from Route 111) and may provide type coverage if you're lucky. Ice Beam, TM13, is obtainable mid-game from the Mauville Game Corner and is always a good way to take down a Dragon, though you probably want it on a better Pokémon. Aerial Ace is an improvement on Gust, and the only STAB move besides Gust and Silver Wind that Masquerain can actually learn -- but it comes from the 6th gym. Other options include Facade, Shadow Ball, Return/Frustration, and Giga Drain. Recommended moveset: '''Bubblebeam', Silver Wind, Gust or Aerial Ace, and for the last slot, Stun Spore for utility, or Ice Beam to cover even more types and have a better special move than it gets otherwise (against neutral effectiveness and equal def/Sp.Def, it outdamages even the STABbed Silver Wind and Aerial Ace). If you get Hidden Power with decent attack and a Ground typing, replace bubblebeam with that -- Ice Beam covers ground-types, and Ground-type HP covers Rock and Fire types, and these are the only three types Water is super effective against, while offering double damage against Poison, Steel, and Electric types as well. Other such uses of Hidden Power may also prove beneficial with other types. Recommended Teammates Early-game, any teammates that can gain levels for it through EXP Share or preferably switch-training (with a tank) until Surskit is level 25 (to learn Bubblebeam before evolution to Masquerain) as Surskit is pretty awful on both attack and defense. Masquerain is itself not great on physical defense but Intimidate makes up for much of that if it is switched in. However, Intimidate only works when Masquerain is switched in and not when something is switched in against it, so you'll want someone tanky in case you have to switch Masquerain out. It is hard to recommend teammates to cover Masquerain's weaknesses, because that somewhat depends on what Hidden Power it gets and whether it is a powerful enough move to be worth considering (as its power still varies in gen 3). If Hidden Power is not in use, you will definitely want a Ground-type to deal with Poison, Electric, Steel, and Fire-types (while Bubblebeam works on Fire, Masquerain is weak to Fire). Ground-types tend to be tanky anyway, so this is doubly useful. Other Surskit's stats Masquerain's Stats * What Nature do I want? You probably want +speed and -defense. Speed is important because if Masquerain can't go first it may well get one-shot before it can move. -Defense is OK since against three of the physical attack types -- rock, flying, and ground -- defense is basically irrelevant due to super effectiveness (flying), 4x effectiveness (rock), or inability to hit (ground). You don't want a reduction in either attack stat, because Masquerain's role if it has one is probably as an all-around attacker who can use both special and physical moves. * Which Ability do I want? Surskit and Masquerain have one ability each. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Level 25 when Surskit gets Bubblebeam, because Masquerain gets Gust at level 26. You may want to try not to level it past 25 until after Flannery, however, as it loses its water typing and becomes weak to Fire. * How good is the Surskit line in a Nuzlocke? I'm hoping to figure that out. Surskit itself is pretty awful but Masquerain may have use. Surskit's type matchups: * Weaknesses: Flying, Rock, Electric * Resistances: Fighting, Ground, Steel, Water, Ice * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Poison, Bug, Ghost, Fire, Grass, Psychic, Dragon, Dark Masquerain's type matchups: * Weaknesses: Flying, Rock (4x), Electric, Fire, Ice * Resistances: Fighting (1/4), Bug, Grass (1/4) * Immunities: Ground * Neutralities: Normal, Poison, Ghost, Steel, Water, Psychic, Dragon, Dark